Bolivia
Bolivia is rich in metals, but has no port to ship from. Rather good GDP, and superior IC to manpower ration, this country is very playable. The main difficulty to overcome is poor Unity, so never pick a fight you can't win. Contents = Leadership = Bolivia has the highest IC/Leadership of any micro power, and will serve it well. Focus mainly on research, and place any residual towards intelligence operations. When at war, put all leadership towards officer recruitment until it reaches a suitable level between 100-140. Intelligence Bolivia needs 10 domestic spies immediately to start reducing its neutrality. Neutrality should be reduced to around 20 so that it can begin a campaign of intervention. Technology With abundant natural resources, and high IC/Leadership ration, Bolivia can forego any investments in infrastructure, leadership, or economy for considerable period. Concentrate all research on: * Agriculture - to grow manpower, especially when at war * Army Doctrines - will especially need to boost organization so that the army can sustain the offensive against less-organized forces. The player can bring the former technologies onstream as conquest's begin to mount. In the mean time, Bolivia need not invest in any technologies ahead of time, and doctrines need only be improved a single step to begin campaigning. Diplomacy Bolivia must trade with other countries in South America because it has no port of its own. Establish about 40-50 points of diplomatic influence to start. It will need to sell supplies and/or fuel to maintain a balance of trade. Bolivia is in the heart of South America, and in a fairly target-rich environment. Initially recruiting about 20 free spies to use for infiltration purposes, the campaign to control all of South America so begins. The Monroe doctrine will bring Bolivia into conflict with the USA, but this is a good thing because with such low Unity, Bolivia would be otherwise be hard-pressed to affect an aggressive conscription and industrial policy in inter-war periods. The first logical target is Paraguay. This neighbor has no sea ports either, but will make an excellent puppet to augment Bolivia's rather slim armed forces in future conflicts. The boost in resources from capturing Paraguay's capitol more than make up for loss of future trade. Make sure to give your puppet transit rights so its forces can follow yours in subsequent campaigns. A strategic victory is the capture of any Pacific port, remember you must annex in order to own the port. Good luck and good hunting. Officer recruitment Bolivia should avoid officer recruitment during the initial military build-up. Wait until after the initial DOW, then switch conscription laws to Service by Requirement, and put ALL leadership towards officer recruitment. Continue recruitment thus until officer percentages reach 100-140. Return to regular leadership commitments, but try to maintain a high level of officer percentages for the remainder of the game. = Economy = The overall strategy is rapid military build-up, which will be accomplished with a Full Civilian Economy so not not to be a strain on resources. Money and energy will be the sticking points. Don't go broke on education, downshift to Average Education Investment until money supplies are well padded. Industrial production Commense with building infantry, artillery, light armor, cavalry, and commandos. Set to work building a level-10 fort in the capitol, placing this at the bottom of the build queue to soak-up any residual IC's. You may never need this fortification, but it's better to err on the side of caution when campaigning in South America. Trade As a land-locked nation, Bolivia can only trade within South America. Energy is the most precious resource, and so the going will be very slow until a port of trade has been acquired. Small trades can be offered to sell excess metal supplies, otherwise rely on exporting supplies and/or fuel to support hard currency needs and to generate a balance of payments surplus. Resources The Bolivian economy has a significant surplus of Metal, but a deficit in Energy. It will need to acquire a port of trade to fuel its expansionist policies. = Military = Bolivia's has low manpower and few officers, so a Dictatorial Army OOB is recommended. Initially the Army will need one good stack of five (5) of break-through infantry (2Inf+1Art). This force is uni-directional, and is only used to beat a path to the enemy's capitol. Running interference will require at least two (2) road-hogs (1LPz+1Cav) and three commando's (1Inf+1MP). Important: Bolivia does not have enough manpower to bring all the above divisions to full strength, at least initially. To avoid shattering, immediately retreat any divisions that fall below 20% organization. Following the USA's DOW, switch to Service by Requirement and build no more forces until the above are brought up to full strength. Military strategy Road-hogs make especially good use of mobility and combined-arms modifier to quickly gain the advantage. The usual approach is to send the road-hogs forward into uncontested provinces, then remain on defence until the opposing divisions have depleted their organization. Next, advance the main corps towards its objective. The passive-offensive approach is the most expedient and most viable given limited manpower. Use Commandos for special operations such as rear eschelon security, holding strategic positions on the flanks, diversionary attacks while the main force is advancing, or flanking attacks on the enemy's capitol. OOB Any military expedition will require the expansion of Bolivia's forces. Bolivia has few Generals, so it should be organized into a Dictatorial Army; with one full corps of elite divisions, a special forces army command, and everything else reporting directly to Theater HQ. Supply for such a small force is not a problem, so the usual Group HQ may be dispensed with. * All brigades should be built as reserves using voluntary conscription to maximize use of available ICs. * To save on manpower, decommission unnecessary militia, and turn-off all replacements to individual HQ's and remaining militia. * For starting forces, construct one stack (of 5) break-through infantry(2Inf+1Art), two (2) road-hogs(1LPz+1Cav), and three (3) commando divisions (1Inf+1MP). * Create only Army HQ's as needed to support elite corps and special forces. The break-through corps is not as strong on defense as traditional infantry divisions, so use your road-hogs and commandos as a skirmishing force to enable you to position your elite corps for the kill. The elite Army HQ and Corps HQ need Generals with offensive and engineer traits, while road-hogs should use tricksters, and commandos use commandos. All remaining divisions use best available officers in that order. 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